To Doris Kearns, a young woman from Harvard who first met LBJ in all his public glory at a White House dance and later came to see him cowering under bedsheets at his Texas ranch, Lyndon Johnson revealed himself as he did to no other.

Now Doris Kearns has written a portrait of this man unlike any ever written about an American President-the down-home childhood that shaped him, the Washington system that trained him, the ideals that inspired him, the inner demons that tormented him, the talents that led him to towering triumphs, the flaws that trapped him in ultimate tragedy. Her book stands as one of the most fascinating and moving dramas of our time.